Date of Award

Spring 2026

Document Type

Thesis - SCU Access Only

Publisher

Santa Clara : Santa Clara University, 2026

Department

General Engineering

First Advisor

Jes Kuczenski

Second Advisor

Laura Doyle

Abstract

Oorja Development Solutions deploys and operates solar-powered irrigation systems that provide water access to smallholder farmers in rural India. The company’s existing single-outlet irrigation design is inefficient, restricts access to one user at a time, increasing irrigation wait times, underutilizing pump capacity, and limiting the total volume of water delivered each day.

This project was conducted in collaboration with the Santa Clara University Miller Center for Social Entrepreneurship and Oorja Development Solutions to investigate methods for improving water-distribution efficiently while maintaining compatibility with Oorja’s existing solar-powered infrastructure. The project included hydraulic analysis of the existing piping system, development of a multi-outlet water distribution concept, design of an electronic monitoring and data collection system, evaluation of battery storage integration, and a techno-commercial assessment of alternative system configurations, including increased pump and solar panel capacity.

Results indicate that reducing hydraulic losses, improving water-sharing efficiencies, and implementing a multi-outlet distribution system can increase daily water production while maintaining compatibility with existing infrastructure. Technical, economic, and operational analyses showed improvements to water distribution provide a more cost-effective method of increasing daily water production than battery integration or major power-system expansion. The analysis indicates that the greatest opportunity for improvement lies in optimizing the existing infrastructure than replacing it.

Based on the analysis, the recommended solution is a low-cost, multi-outlet distribution system paired with the existing solar power pumping configuration. The proposed design uses a single upstream flow meter and a downstream multi-outlet distribution system optimized to maximize daily water production while maintaining compatibility with existing infrastructure. This approach best aligns with Oorja’s goals of scalability, affordability, maintainability, and sustainable irrigation access while increasing daily water production for smallholder farmers in rural India.

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